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HAWAIIAN FISHERIES 



AND 



METHODS OF FISHING 



WITH AN* ACCOUNT OF 



The Fishing- Implements 



USED BY 



THE! NATIVES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 



BY 
MRS. EMMA METCALF BECKLEY, 

CURATOR OF THE HAWAIIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Published by Order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. 



Advertiser Steam Print, Honolulu. 



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PREFACE. 



The information contained in the following pages has been 
exclusively obtained from Native sources by the Authoress, 
who is herself a native Hawaiian lady. The treatise contains 
a full account, believed to be complete, of the methods of 
fishing in use among the Hawaiian Islanders, from the earliest 
times of which there is any tradition, down to the present day. 
The Authoress desires to acknowledge the assistance rendered 
to her by the Rev. Dr. C. M. Hyde, Principal of North Pa- 
cific Theological Institute, who furnished some of the infor- 
mation concerning Torch-light fishing obtained by him from 
his native pupils, 

The publication of this little work has been ordered by His 
Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the belief that 
it will form an interesting and useful adjunct to the Collection 
of Fish and Fishing Implements forwarded by the Hawaiian 
Government to the Great International Fisheries Exhibition 
of London. 

Foreign Ofiice, Honolulu, June 25th, 1883. 



NOTE. 



As a guide to the pronunciation of Hawaiian words the fol- 
lowing simple rules will suffice. 

1 — Every syllable ends with a vowel. 
' 2 — The vowels have the same sound as in Italian. 

3 — Every vowel should be separately pronounced. 

4 — The accent should be placed on the last syllable but one 
of a word. 

There are exceptions to all but the first of these rules, but 
they are very few in number and no rule for them can be de- 
fined. 



HAWAIIAN 

Fishing Implements 

AND 

METHODS OF FISHING. 



The Hawaiians have five methods of fishing: by spearing, 
hand catching, baskets, hook and line, and with nets^ 

The la O, is the spearing of fish and is of two kinds, 
below and above water. That below water is the most im- 
portant, and is generally employed for the different kind of 
rock fish. The spear used by the diver is a slender stick of 
from 6 to 7 feet in length made of very hard wood and sharply 
pointed at one end, but more tapering at the other. Since 
the possession of iron spears are always tipped with it, but per- 
fectly smooth, without hook or barb. Diving to a well-known 
station by a large coral rock or against the steep face of the 
reefs, the diver places himself in a half crouching position on 
his left foot, with his right foot free and extended behind, his 
left hand holding on to the rock to steady himself, watches and 
waits for the fish. Fish in only two positions are noticed by 
him, those passing before and parallel to him, and those com- 
ing straight towards his face. He always aims a little in ad- 
vance, as, by the time the fish is struck, its motion has 



carried it so far forward that it will be hit on the gilfo-or mid- 
dle of the body and thus secured, but if the spear were 
aimed at the body it would be very apt to hit the tail, or 
pass behind. When the fish is hit, the force of the blow gen- 
erally carries the spear right through to the hand, thus bring- 
ing the fish up to the lower part or handle of the spear, where 
it remains whilst the fisherman strikes rapidly at other fish in 
succession should they come in a huakai (train) as they usually 
do. 

Except in the case of Oopuhue spearing, above-water spear- 
ing is very rarely used, and then generally in connection with 
deep sea line and hook fishing. Oopuhue is the well-known 
poison fish of the Pacific, but of a delicious flavor. It is gen- 
erally speared in enclosed salt water ponds from the stone em- 
bankments. The poison of this fish, is contained in three 
little sacs which must be extracted whole and uninjured. 
The fish is first skinned, as the rough skin is also poisonous in 
a slight degree. Should the teeth of the fish be yellow then it 
is so highly charged with poison that no part of its flesh is 
safe even with the most careful preparation. Oopuhue caught 
in the open sea are always more poisonous than those from 
fish ponds. 

Some fishermen dive to well-known habitats of certain fish 
and lobsters and, thursting their arms up to their armpits under 
rocks or in holes, bring out the fish one- by one and put them 
into a bag attached for the purpose to the malo or loin cloth. 
Women frequently do the same in shallow waters and catch 
fish by hand from under coral projections. It is also a favorite 
method employed by women in the capture of the larger vari- 
ties of shrimps and oopus in the fresh water streams and kalo 
ponds. Gold fish are also caught in that way, and at the pres- 
ent time form no inconsiderable portion of the daily food of 
the poorer classes living near kalo patches or fresh water 
ponds. Their power of reproduction is very great. The dif- 
ferent kinds of edible sea slugs are caught in the same way, 
although the larger kinds are sometimes dived for and speared 
under water. 



There are two ways of octopus fishing: In shallow water 
the spear is used. Women generally attend to this. Their 
practised eye can tell if an octopus is in a hole whose entrance 
is no larger than a silver dollar, and plunging their spears in 
they invariably draw one out. These moll asks have the pe- 
culiar property of drawing themselves out and compressing 
their bodies so as to pass through very narrow apertures many 
times smaller than the natural size or thickness of their bodies. 
Those caught in shallow waters vary from one to four feet in 
length, but the larger kinds live in deep water always and are 
known as hee-o-kai-uli (blue water octopus). They are caught 
with cowries of the Mauritlana and sometimes of the Tio-er 
species. One or more of these shells is attached to a string 
with an oblong pebble on the face of the shell, a hole is pierced 
in one end of the back of one of the shells through which the 
line is passed, and having been fastened is allowed to project a 
few inches below, and a hook whose point stands almost per- 
pendicular to the shaft or shank is then fastened to the end of 
the line. Only the finest kind of Mauritlana or Tiger cowries 
are employed for this purpose as the octopus will not rise to a 
large-spotted or ugly one. The spots on the back must be 
very small and red, breaking through a reddish brown ground; 
such a shell would have the strongest attractions for an octo- 
pus, and is called ipo (lover). Cowries with suitable spots, but 
objectionable otherwise, are slightly steamed over a fire of 
sugar cane husks. This has the effect of giving them the de- 
sired hue. 

The fisherman having arrived at his fishing grounds first 
chews and spits on the water a mouthful of candle nut meat 
which renders the water glassy and clear; he then drops the 
shell with hook and line into the water and swings it over a 
place likely to be inhabited by an octopus. This being a vo- 
racious animal is always, according to Hawaiian fishermen, 
when in its hole, keeping a look-out for anything eatable that 
may come within reach of its eight arms. The moment a 
cowry is perceived an arm is shot out and the shell clasped, if 
of the attractive kind, one arm after the other comes out, and 



finally the whole body is withdrawn from the hole and attaches 
itself to the cowry or cowries which it closely hugs, curling it- 
self all around it, and seeming oblivious of anything but the 
pleasure of hugging its "lover. ' ' It remains very quiet whilst be- 
ing rapidly drawn up through the water till, just as its head is 
exposed above water it raises it, when the fisherman pulls the 
string so as to bring its head against the edge of the canoe 
and it is killed by a blow from a club which is struck be- 
tween the eyes. This must be rapidly done before the animal 
has, time to become alarmed and lets go the cowry, when, 
should the arms be a fathom in length, it becomes a danger- 
ous antagonist, as there would be risk of the fisherman being 
squeezed to death. Having eight arms, an octopus of such a 
size could very well -manage two or three persons, as the cut- 
ting oft' of one or more of its arms does not affect the rest in 
the least. 

Torch light fishing is practised on calm dark nights. The 
fish are either caught with small scoop nets, or are speared. 
Torch light fishing is always in shallow water where one can 
wade. The fisherman must be spry and light of step, passing 
through the water without a splash to disturb the fish which 
remain quiet as if dazzled by the light unless alarmed by the 
splashing or concussions in the water. The torches are made 
of split bamboos secured at regular intervals with ki leaves, 
Dra.coe.na ierminalis -or twigs of the naio (spurious sandal 
wood) bound together in the same manner. Should the light 
burn with a pale flame, then the fisherman will not meet with 
good luck, but if the torches burn with a bright red flame, he 
will be apt to be very successful. 

The Hawaiians have four kinds of basket fishing — Hinai. 
The Hinai opae, sometimes called apua opae, is a basket look- 
ing something like the coal scuttle bonnets of a hundred years 
ago, and is woven from the air roots of the Freycineiia Ar- 
bor ea (Ieie). This is used for mountain shrimping, and wo- 
men always attend to it. They move in a crouching position 
through the water, moving small stones and thrusting sticks 
under the large ones to drive the shrimp to a suitable- place 



which is always some place where the grass, ferns, or branches 
©f trees droop over on the water; the shrimps take refuge in or 
under these and the fisherwoman places her basket under the 
leaves and lifts them out of the water, when the shrimps drop 
into the basket; she then unties the small-end and drops them 
into a small mouthed gourd attached to a string, which she 
keeps floating after her for that purpose, and putting some 
fern leaves inside the gourd to keep the shrimps from creep- 
ing out, as these are lively little fellows who live a long time 
out of water and scamper about on terra firma like cockroaches. 
The Hinai Hooluuluu is used in Hinalea fishing, .(a small spe- 
cies of Julis,) and is a small basket made from the vines of the 
awikiwiki, a convolvulus, and it is renewed from day to 
day as wanted. A light frame work of twigs is first tied to- 
gether and then the vines, leaves and all, are wound in and out 
round and round till of the requisite size, three or four feet in 
circumference and about one and a half in depth. Shrimp 
pounded and enclosed in eocoanut fibre is occasionally placed 
at the bottom of the basket for bait, but usually the scent of 
the bruised and withering leaves seems to be sufficient. Wo- 
men always attend to this kind of fishing. They wade out to 
suitable places, generally small sandy openings in coral ground 
or reef, and let the baskets down suitably weighted to keep 
them in position, the weights attached in such a way as to be 
easily detached. Each woman then moves away from her 
basket to some distance, but from where she can watch the 
fish enter the basket. When all the fish that are in sight 
have entered, they take the basket up and transferring the fish 
to a large small-mouthed gourd, move the basket to a fresh 
place. Fishing in this way can only be carried on, on a calm 
sunny day, and at low tide. 

Since the introduction of the weeping willow, baskets for 
this fishing are sometimes made of willow twigs. Such can be 
used over and over again. Men sometimes take such baskets 
and using wana (sea eggs), for bait, with the top of the shell 
broken to expose the meat, place them in comparatively deep 
water, piling stones around them to keep them in place. They 



6 

leave them for a day or two, and if the place is good fishing 
ground the basket will be full by the time they come for it. 
The Uiui basket is shallow, of about the same size as the above 
but wider mouthed, used in deep water for catching a small 
flat fish called uiui that makes its appearance at intervals of 
from ten, fifteen to twenty years. Whenever it appears it is 
taken by fishermen and people generally as a sure precursor 
of the death of a very high chief. At the last appearance of 
the uiui, the imported marketing baskets were generally used 
by those who could not obtain the old-fashioned kind, as any 
old cast-away basket would do, with a little patching, occupy- 
ing perhaps, five minutes, and two sticks bent over the mouth 
or opening from side to side, and at right angles to each other 
for a handle to which to tie the draw string. It should be 
twisted round and round above the jointure with a little of 
the sea convolvulus, (pohuehue), with the leaves on, so as to 
throw a little shade in the basket to keep the fish from being 
drawn up to the surface of the water. In these baskets cooked 
pumpkins, half roasted sweet potatoes, or raw ripe papayas 
were placed for bait. The canoes thus provided would sail 
right into the midst of a school of these fish; the basket being 
.lowered a few feet into the sea, the fish being attracted by the 
scent of the bait, would rush into the baskets and feed 
greedily. As soon as the baskets were full of fish they would 
be drawn up and emptied into the canoe and then lowered 
again, with more bait if necessary, and this would go on till 
the canoe was loaded or the fisherman was tired. These fish 
are very good eating when they first arrive, as they are fat, 
with liver very much enlarged; after a month they become 
-thinner, not perhaps procuring their proper food here, and then 
taste strong and rank. 

The Ie kala basket is the largest kind of basket used in 
fishing by .the Hawaiians. These are round, rather flat, baskets 
four to five feet in diameter by two and a half to three in 
depth, and about one and a half across the mouth. A small 
cylinder or cone of wicker is attached by the large end to the 
mouth and turned inwards towards the bottom of the basket. 



This cone or cylinder Is quite small at the free end, just large 
enough for the kala to get in. Immediately below the end of 
this cone, on the bottom of this basket is placed the bait, 
properly secured, which in the case of the kala is limu kala (a 
coarse brownish yellow alga on which this fish feeds and from 
which it takes its name), ripe bread fruit, cooked pumpkins, 
and half roasted sweet potatoes, and papayas. This basket is 
called the ie lawe (taking basket). The fishermen generally 
feed the fish at a given place for a week or more before tak- 
ing any, using for this purpose a large basket of the same 
kind without the inverted cylinder, and wider in the mouth, to 
allow the fish free ingress and egress. After a week or two 
of feeding they become very fat and fine flavored, as also very 
tame, and baskets full of fish can be drawn up in the taking 
basket without in the least disturbing those which are still 
greedily feeding in the feeding baskets. These baskets are 
occasionally used for other kinds of fish, substituting the bait 
known to attract that particular kind, but never with the same 
degree of success as with kala. 

The Gilbert Islanders have of late years introduced fishing 
with a basket in a manner ditterent from any formerly prac- 
tised by Hawaii ans. This is an oblong basket called by these 
people a punger, larger at one end than another, with a flat 
and oval top, convex like a carriage top, and gradually 
sloping to the small end. A cone with the end cut oft' is in- 
serted at the large end, the body of the cone being inside of 
and opening into the basket. A trap door is fixed on the end 
of the cone in such a manner that it will open by a touch from 
the outside, but cannot be pushed open from the inside. The 
basket is taken to a good sandy place in two to four fathoms 
water, where there is plenty of coral or stones handy. The 
fisherman then dives and places the basket in the exact posi- 
tion he wishes; he then takes pieces of coral rock and begins 
to build up and around the basket, enclosing it completely with 
stones so as to form an artificial dark retreat for the fish. The 
entrance to the cylinder or cone is left exposed, and the fish 
seeing an inviting entrance to a dark place go on an exploring 



8 

expedition till they find themselves inside. Once inside they 
cannot return. This basket is left from two days to a week 
in a position at the bottom of the sea, when the stones are dis- 
placed, the basket and its contents are hauled up to the canoe 
or boat, a door left at the smaller end of the basket is opened, 
the fish shaken out, and the basket is ready to be replaced in 
the sea. 

The natives had a very ingenious method of catching oopus, 
small fresh water fish found mostly in our mountain streams 
and having the flavor of trout. This was a platform of large 
logs placed side by side across our larger streams on the 
mountain slopes.. This is put in place towards the end of the 
dry season when the water is low, and is placed, at about or 
just above high water mark.. When the first heavy rains of 
the season fall, and the streams get full, the water becomes 
so muddy with the wash from the sloping ground adjoining 
the banks that the oopus of the whole previous dry season are 
driven away from their usual haunts in, water holes, under 
large rocks, logs, etc., and are carried down by the hurrying 
waters. The oopus always try to keep iii the surface water as 
being comparatively clear, and are thus swept in immense 
quantities onto the platform, and from, there into a ditch lead- 
ing out to a plain where they are gathered up in immense 
quantities. These oopus are highly prized as they have a 
very delicate flavor from, it is supposed, having fed on the 
fallen flowers of the Eugenias, which always line the banks 
of mountain streams and are known as oopu-ai-lehua (lehua 
fed oopu). The oopus breed or are hatched in salt water and 
the young fry ascend the streams to live and grow. The 
young are known as hinana, scarcely any larger than maggots, 
and seem to have a special aptitude for getting up almost per- 
pendicular embankments or water falls. 

Paeaea is fishing with rod, hook and line. There are only 
seven kinds of fish sought for m the paeaea fishing. The bait 
most liked is shrimp. Earth worms are sometimes used and 
any obtainable fry of fish. The fisherman takes a handful of 
shrimps, baits his hooks, and then, bruising the remainder and 



9 

wrapping it up in cocoanut fibre, ties it with a pebble on the 
line and close to the hooks; the bruised matter spreads through 
the water when the line is dropped, and serves to attract fishes 
to the vicinity of the hooks. This bruised matter is called 
palu. 

For hook and line fishing which is generally practised in 
deep water, kawakawa and aku (bonito) and ula (lobster) are 
the usual bait; for lack of these any kind of flsfh is used with 
varying results. The bonito were formerly caught with 
muhee for bait, a kind of squid found floating on the surface 
of the sea in great quantities. A mother-of-pearl hook is also 
used in place of bait. Small mullets and iiao ( a small fish 
that comes in immense schools) are now the favorite bait, and 
must always be used in connection with the mother-of-pearl 
hooks. These fishes are taken out alive in large gourds or 
tubs to the fishing grounds, which are any places where 
bonitos are seen, usually three to ten miles out on the open 
sea, and are thrown over board, a handful at a time, they 
will immediately make for the shadow cast by the canoe as 
affording comparative shelter, the bonitos then give chase 
to them and are thus attracted in great numbers around the 
canoes, which, for this kind of fishing are generally double 
ones. The mother-of-pearl hooks are then thrown in the 
water without being baited and are mistaken for fish by the 
bonito, being on account of their shimmer and glisten like the 
iiao. The mother-of-pearl hooks are called pa, and are of two 
kinds, the pa-hau (snowy pa) and the pa-anuenue (rainbow pa). 
The pa-hau is used in the morning till the sun is high, as the 
sun's rays striking it obliquely makes it glisten with a white 
pearly light which looks like the shimmer from the scales of 
the smaller kinds of fish on which the bonito lives, but at 
midday when the sun's rays fall perpendicularly on it, it ap- 
pears transparent and is not taken by the fish. The pa-anue- 
nue is then used. This has the rainbow refractions, and the 
perpendicular rays of the sun make it shimmer and glisten 
like a living thing. Sometimes shells are found uniting the 
two characters, and such are always highly prized, as they 



10 

can be used all day. The shell is barbed on the inner side 
with bone and two tufts of hog's bristles are attached at the 
barbed end at right angles to it. The bristles are to keep the 
inner side up so the shell will lie flat on the surface of the sea. 

For deep sea fishing the hook and line are used without 
rods, and our fishermen sometimes use lines over a hundred 
fathoms in length. Every rocky protuberance from the bot- 
tom of the sea for miles out, in the waters surrounding the 
islands, was well known to the ancient fishermen, and so were 
the different kinds of rock fish likely to be met with on each 
separate rock. The ordinary habitat of every known species 
of Hawaiian fishes was also well known to them. They often 
went fishing so far out from land as to be entirely out of sight 
of the low lands and mountain slopes and took their bearing 
for the purpose of ascertaining the rock which was the habitat 
of the particular fish they were after, from the positions of 
the different mountain peaks. 

The natives distinguish the sharks seen in Hawaiian waters 
into five species: The mano-kihikihi (hammer-headed shark) 
and the lalakea (white fin) are considered .edible, as the 
natives insist that these never eat human beings. Then comes 
the mano kanaka (man shark), the shark god of the ancient 
Hawaiians; supposed to be entered and possessed by the spirits 
or souls of the descendants of the first shark god, who could 
take human form at will and left a numerous human progeny. 
This was the kind of shark that was formerly fed on awa 
(piper methysticum) and bananas, and who only bit or ate 
people when they were in the wrong. Then comes the mano 
a large white shark, the largest of all known to Hawaiians, 
but not a particularly ravenous one. It is very rarely seen. 
The niuhi completes the list; a very large shark, and the 
fiercest of all. Fortunately, it very rarely makes its appear- 
ance in Hawaiian waters. In the night the niuhi can be seen 
a long way off' by the bright greenish light of its eyeballs. 
These sharks will attack the largest of double canoes, and the 
fisherman's only safety is in precipitate flight at the first ap- 
pearance of his greenish light. 



II 

The mano-Mhikihi and smaller lalakeas are caught in old" 
nets, but the larger lalakea with hooks, as are also all the 
man eating kinds. Especial preparations were made for the 
capture of the niuhi, but there has been no regular fishing for it 
for the last eighty years. The common kind of shark was 
caught in vast quantities, and the liver with a little of the 
flesh was wrapped in ki leaves and baked underground, then 
from fifty to a hundred of the largest single and double canoes 
were loaded with baked meat and large quantities of the 
pounded roots of awa, mixed with a little water, and contained 
in large gourds. The fleet would sail many miles out to sea 
in the direction in which the niuhi is known frequently to ap- 
pear. Arrived at a comparatively shallow place, the canoe con- 
taining the head fisherman and the priest and sorcerer, who 
was supposed to be indispensable, would cast anchor, meat 
and the baked liver would be thrown overboard, a few bundles 
at a time to attract sharks. After a few days the grease and 
scent of cooked meats would spread through the water many 
miles in radius. The niuhi would almost always make its 
appearance after the third or fourth day, when bundles of the 
baked meats were thrown as fast as it could swallow them. 
After a while it would get comparatively tame and would 
come up to one or other of the canoes to be fed. Bundles of 
the liver with the pounded awa would then be given to it, 
when it would become not only satiated, but also stupified 
with awa, and a noose was then slipped over its head, and 
the fleet raised anchor and set sail for home, the shark fol- 
lowing a willing prisoner, the people of the nearest canoes 
taking care to feed it on the same mixture from time to time. 
It was led right into shallow water till it was stranded and 
then killed. Every part of its bones and skin was supposed 
to confer unflinching bravery on the possessor. The actual 
captor, that is, the one who slipped the noose over the niuhi 's 
head, would also, ever after, be always victorious. This 
shark's natural home is y perhaps, in the warmer waters of the 
equator, as the Gilbert Islanders now here, make the assertion 
that it is very frequently seen and captured at their group. 



12 

The tradition here is, that it is. only seen just after or during a 
heavy storm,, when the disturbed waters, perhaps drive it 
away from its natural haunts. 

There are two general divisions of the kinds of nets in use 
here, the upena-paloa, long nets and the bag or purse nets, 
with endless variations of those two main features. The finest 
of the upena-paloa or long ne*fcs is a mesh one half inch wide 
called nukunukuaula. It is generally a fathom and a half in 
depth, and from forty to sixty fathoms in length. It is used 
to surround and catch the small mullets and awas in shallow 
waters for the purpose of stocking fish ponds. Small pebbles 
frequently ringed or pierced are used for sinkers and pieces of 
the hau, (Hibiscus TUiaceus), and kukui (candle nut tree) for 
the floaters. Upena-paloa of one to two inch mesh are used 
for the larger mullets, awa weke, and pau-u-lua. A two to 
two and a half inch gill net is called upena hoolewalewa, or 
upena apoapo, according to the use to which it is put. The 
upena hoolewalewa (hanging net) is stretched from a given 
point to another at high tide, and always across what they 
call fish-runs in shallow waters, which a long sandy opening 
in coral places. Two, or sometimes one person, work this 
net, passing backward and forward, to seaward of the net, 
taking out fish as fast as caught in the meshes. This way of 
fishing is only practised at night. For upena apoapo, a place 
where fish are seen or are likely to be, is surrounded and 
the water inside the circle beaten, when the frightened fishes 
dart in every direction with great violence and are meshed. 
The upena oio is a long net of three to four inch mesh, used 
for catching oio, kala, nenue and large awa-kalamoho. It 
is of eighty, one hundred, one hundred and forty to one hun- 
dred and fifty fathoms, in length by two to three fathoms in 
depth, it is used in the deeper waters, just inside, or in shallow 
waters just outside, the reef or breakers. For oio fishing the 
fishermen go in canoes, one man called the kilo (lookout) is 
always standing upright on the cross bars of the canoe, keep- 
ing a sharp lookout for a school of oio. When he sees one, 
the canoes follow it at a distance from place to place, or wait 



13 

patiently if the fishes remain in an unfavorable place till they 
move into the accustomed fishing grounds, called (kuuna, 
"where nets are dropped.") Two or three canoes are almost 
always engaged in this kind of fishing. When the fish are in 
a suitable place one canoe approaches very cautiously and sta- 
tions itself where the net is to be dropped, whilst another one 
carrying a net of the same kind, makes a wide circuit till im- 
mediately opposite with the fish between, when the ends of 
the nets are dropped simultaneously from the two canoes, and 
both paddle in a semi-circle whilst paying out net and striv- 
ing to meet the dropped ends of the opposite nets as soon as 
possible, so as to completely enclose the school before they 
become alarmed. The first canoe having met the end of the 
opposite net, if on sandy bottom, keeps on one side of the net 
already down and drawing its own net after it, thus 
gradually reducing the circle, as well as making two or three 
rings of netting around the fish, so if they make a rush to 
any given point and by their weight bear down the floaters, 
those escaping from the first circle will still be enclosed by 
the outer ones, and eventually be caught by becoming en- 
tangled and meshed. When the nets have been drawn, to 
the mind of the head fisherman, they all jump overboard with 
their canoe poles and beating the water frighten the fish who 
dash here and there with great violence, entangling theniT 
selves in the nets, and are easily captured. For upena-kaka, 
the oio or mullet nets are used either in daylight or at night,, 
though the best results are almost always obtained at night. 
The nets are dropped in a semi-circle and some of the fisher- 
men making a wide sweep to the opposite side, spread out 
fan-shape and move rapidly towards the net, beating the 
waters as they go with their arms, and thus driving the fish, 
from quite a distance into the comparatively small area partly 
enclosed by the nets, whilst the two men holding the kuku. 
(stick supporting the end of the net and standing perpendi- 
cularly in the water) run on the approach, of the beaters to- 
wards each other. Should the water, be. dirty and the net 
rather long the euds are then gathered together till the circle 



14 

is all reduced and the fish all taken. If at night, numbers of 
rock fish are also taken with those that spread in schools, 
called by Hawaiians ia-hele, whilst rock fish are ia-koa. 

The ISTae is the finest of all kinds of net, the mesh being 
only one-fourth inch. The upena pua is for young mullet fry 
for stocking ponds or for eating. This net is generally a piece, 
a fathom square, attached on two sides to sticks about three 
feet in length and fulled in, the bottom rope shorter than the 
upper one and forming an irregular square opening to a shal- 
low bag, which is supplemented by a long narrow bag about 
three or four inches wide and two feet deep. The sea con- 
vulvulus generally found growing on the beach is twisted, 
leaves, branchlets and all, into two thick bushy ropes some 
fifteen or twenty feet in length, and these are attached on 
each side of the net to the kuku (side sticks) ; these lines are 
then drawn forward in a semi-circle sweeping the shoals of 
fry before them till enough are partly enclosed, when the two 
free ends are brought rapidly together in a circle which is 
gradually reduced, the same as in long net fishing, till the fry 
are all driven into the bag. The same mesh, but made into a 
larger bag is used in fishing for ohua, a small kind of fish very 
highly prized by natives, which lives in and on the limu kala, 
a coarse alga that grows on coral in shallow water. Long 
ropes, one, two, or even three hundred fathoms in length hav- 
ing dry ki leaves braided on them by the stems, the blade 
ends of the leaves hanging loose and free, are started from a 
given place in opposite directions to sweep around and finally 
enclose a circle which is afterwards reduced in the same man- 
ner as in long, or pua fishing. Great numbers of men, wo- 
men and children assist at this kind of fishing to hold the 
ropes down to the bottom, and by the splashing and disturb- 
ance of the limu drive the fish away from the ropes and into 
the net. Persons are generally stationed every yard or so on 
the ropes for this purpose and also to disentangle the ropes if 
caught on a rock or other obstruction. When the circle is 
narrowed to from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, one end of 
the ropes is uutied and the ends attached to the ends of the 



15 

kuku of the bag net, forming a guard on each side, and the 
circle further reduced till the fish are all driven into the net. 

Upena uluulu (diver's net) is a small bag of two-inch mesh, 
about two and a half feet across the opening or mouth of the 
bag, and the same in depth. Two sticks are attached on each 
side of the opening leaving a space of half a foot in width be 
tween them. This net is managed by one person only who 
dives to the small caves and holes in the bottom of the sea, 
which are always well known to the local fishermen, and plac- 
ing his net across the opening of the cave or hole, mouth in- 
wards, he then inserts a slender rod, with a tuft of grass at 
the end, called a pula, into the hole, and gently drives the 
fish which may be in there into the open mouth of his net, 
which, by joining the two sticks together he closes. Then 
placing his driving stick over the closed mouth as a further 
preventive, he rises to the surface, and emptying his bag into 
the canoe, goes to another cave or fish hole where he repeats 
the operation till tired or satisfied with the quantity caught. 

The upena uhu is for catching uhu, a very highly prized 
kind of rock fish of two species, the red and the green. The 
red varieties, called uhu ula, are the more choice ones for eat- 
ing raw. The green, called uhu eleele, are not so fine flavored, 
but attain a larger size. The net for these fishes is a square 
of two or three inch mesh, which has been slightly gathered 
on the ropes and attached at the four corners to slender strong 
sticks tied together at the middle in such a way that they will 
cross each other at the middle and can be closed together 
when wanted. When crossed they spread the net open in 
the form of a shallow bag, a string is tied to the crossing of 
the two sticks and the net is then ready for operations. A 
decoy fish, which must have been previously caught with the 
uluulu or hook and line is then dropped with a string attached, 
in a place where fish of that kind are noticed or known to fre- 
quent, and gently moved back and forth, this is called hoo- 
haehae, *' teasing the fish." Every fish of that kind that can 
see the decoy fish is immediately attracted to see the strange 
actions of this one, and when all have been attracted that are 



16 

likely to be in the vicinity, the net is gently dropped at a lit- 
tle distance from the decoy, which is then gently drawn 
into the net. All the fish rush after it into the net, which is 
then quickly pulled up, the sticks bending over, which elong- 
ates the bag, also reducing the opening or mouth. By a pe- 
culiar twitch and pull on the string the sticks can be made to 
swing around and lie parallel, thus effectually closing the 
bag. No diving is necessary for this net beyond that necs- 
sary to get the decoy. It is also used for several other kinds 
of rock fish whose habits are known to be the same as the 
uhu's, always first getting a decoy of the kind wanted. Fish- 
ermen almost always carry for this kind of fishing candle nut 
or cocoanut meat, which they chew and spit over from time 
to time to smooth the sea so that they can observe the bot- 
tom. 

Upena opule is a bag net a fathom in length having a small 
oval mouth two or three feet wide. It is used with a decoy 
opule, previously caught, which is drawn back and forth at 
the mouth of the net. 

Upena aai-opelu. A large one-inch mesh net, 8 fathoms in 
depth, used in deep waters. The opelu is the Hawaiian mack- 
erel, a small narrow fish caught only at certain seasons. 
Cooked pumpkins are placed] at the bottom of the net for bait 
and lowered some fathoms beneath the surface, and the scent 
of the pumpkin diffusing through the water attracts the 
opelu and they enter the bag to feed on it. "When a sufficient 
quantity of all the opelu in sight have entered it, it is rapidly 
drawn up and emptied of fish, more pumpkin is put in and 
the fishermen sail to a fresh place to drop the bag. 

Upena iiao and nehu are used for two kinds of very small 
fish that come at certain seasons in immense schools and are 
•much used for bait. Pickled and dried they are very good 
^eating The net is a fine mesh bag exactly like a pua net, 
but much larger. It is to be used with a lau, that is, with 
ropes with ki leaves attached, the same as for upena ohua, 
only this sort of fishing net requires no diving as it is used in 
deep waters. 



17 

Laau melomelo is another kind of decoy fishing, only in 
this instance the decoy used is a billet off hard wood something 
like a club, rounded at the ends and one end smaller than the 
other, with a little ringed knob on the smaller end to tie a 
string to. This club when prepared with the proper attention 
to the usual lucky or unlucky superstitions common to fisher- 
men, is then slightly charred over a regulation fire. Kukui 
nut meat and cocoanut in equal quantities are first baked, 
pounded and tied up in a wrapping of cocoanut fibre (the 
sheath around the stem of a cocoanut leaf) and the fishermen 
then start oni a canoe for the fishing grounds. This should be 
in water not deeper than four or five fathoms.. Arrived there 
the laaumelomelo is then greased with the oily juice of the 
pounded nuts and dropped over board and allowed to hang 
suspended a few feet from the bottom. The scent of the baked 
nut meat diffusing through the water seems ^to have a power- 
ful attraction for some kinds of fish which surround the stick 
seeming to smell or nibble at it. After a while the bag net 
is dropped over with its mouth open towards the stick, when 
the latter is moved gently into it, the fish still surrounding 
and following it into the] net. Two persons then dive and 
approaching the net gently, quickly close its mouth and give 
the signal to those in the canoe to haul it up. Some laau- 
melomelo were more attractive to fish than others, or were 1 
more lucky, and this the fishermen ascribed to the more per- 
fect performance of the incantation made at the cutting of the 
stick from the tree and its subsequent preparation. 

The hano is a large bag net of very fine mesh with a flaring 
mouth, used to capture flying fish. There are two varieties 
of flying fish here, the large malolo and the small puhikii, en- 
tirely distinct from each other. The same net and method of 
capture is also employed for the iheihe, a long thin fish, 
usually a foot and a half in length with a very sharp-pointed 
snout that generally arrives here at about the same time as 
the malolo. The hano is also occasionally employed for the 
akule, another flsh that arrives in schools. 

For malolo fishing the hano is piled on a double canoe or 




18 

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large single one, and a start is made early in the morning 
with an attending fleet of from 20 to 40 canoes, women very 
often go in this kind of fishing to help paddle the canoes as no 
particular skill is called for on the part of the general hands, 
the success of the fishing depending altogether on the good 
judgment and sight of the kilo or spy. This person is gen- 
erally on a light canoe manned by only two or three hands, 
and he is standing up always on the cross ties of the canoe 
looking for the malolo; whenever he discerns a strong ripple 
he points it out to the rest of the canoes who then surround 
the spot indicated whilst he confers with the head fishermen 
about the best place to drop the hano, which depends upon 
which way the current sets, when the net is all ready the' canoes 
paddle very quickly in towards it, splashing the water and 
driving the fishes before them into the open net. It seems 
that these fishes will not dive to any depth and are always 
found swimming very near the surface, so, when completely 
surrounded by canoes, they can be driven wherever wanted. 
The fleet very often go several miles out to sea after malolo, 
and this fishing is called one of the lawaia-o-kaiuli, "blue sea 
fishing. 

Upena kolo is the largest of all nets, and can only be used 
in a very few places, like the harbor of Honolulu, Puuloa, etc. 
It is an immense bag from sixteen to twenty-four fathoms in 
depth. Small meshed and narrow at the extreme end, but 
widening out into an immense flaring mouth, with long nets 
16 to 20 fathoms deep attached on each side and called its pe- 
peiao (ears). This is swept from one side to the other of the 
harbor, scooping up every kind of fish. A great many sharks 
a fathom in length are sometimes caught in it, but the net is 
generally used when the mullet is in roe and is designed for 
the capture of large quantities of that fish. It requires a great 
many hands to manage it. 

Lau kapalili is the use of a large bag net smaller than the 
kolo, but larger than the ohua or iiao net, but of the same 
general shape and called a papa. Two ropes lau of 3 or 400 
fathoms in length, with ki leaves attached, the same as in 



19 

Iau ohua, and generally the Ian of two or more ohua nets 
joined, are piled on to a large double canoe, which is taken out 
two or three miles from shore, attended by a fleet of from 60 
to 100 single canoes. The head fisherman always goes on the 
canoe containing the net and lau. Arrived at the proper dis- 
tance, which must be just opposite the final drawing place, the 
end of one rope is joined to that of the other, and two canoes 
manned by eight or ten strong men take the other end of the 
rope or lau, one each, and start in opposite directions and ex- 
actly parallel with the shore, whilst the double canoe remains 
stationary till all the lau is paid out. In the meantime the 
rest of the canoes have divided into two companies and follow 
the two leading canoes, stationing themselves at certain dis- 
tances on the lau and helping to pull it. When the lau is all 
paid out, the two leading canoes then curve in to form a semi- 
circle, at the same time always moving towards the shore. 
When a perfect semi-circle has been made by the lau the 
double canoes and all the others move gradually forwards with 
it, while the leading canoes are pulling with all their might 
straight into the shore. When either end is landed the men 
immediately leap out and taking hold of the line pull on it, at 
the same time going towards each other, which has the ef- 
fect of narrowing the semi-circle, whilst most of the canoes 
keep backing on to the double canoe, which alwaj^s keeps the 
center. Arrived at a suitable place, always a clean sandy one 
a few rods from shore, the laus are untied and attached to 
each end of the papa net ; men, women and children now 
gather cosely on the lau, especially where it joins the net, and 
make a great disturbance with their feet, which drives all the 
fish into the net. Lau and net are finally drawn ashore. 

Lau Kapalili (trembling leaves) fishing can only be carried 
on on a clear, bright, sunny day, so that the shadows cast by 
the leaves can be seen and serve to drive the fish inland. Tt 
is called the " Fishing of Kings, " as they only, could com- 
mand a sufficient number of canoes, men and lau. For the 
same reason the Niuhi was called the " Game of Kings. " The 



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